Handler discovered his son Kenneth playing with Matchbox cars and decided to create a line to compete with Matchbox. The original Hot Wheels were made by Elliot Handler. Although Hot Wheels were originally intended to be for children and young adults, they have become popular with adult collectors, for whom limited edition models are now made available. Many automobile manufacturers have since licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars, allowing the use of original design blueprints and detailing. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until Mattel bought Matchbox owner Tyco Toys in 1997. Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. For other purposes, see Hot Wheels (disambiguation).
